Longrow 20 year old 2001 Springbank Society

Dear readers, this week I am reviewing a trio of single malts that were bottled within the past two months. Please know that I am okay, and that the appropriate authorities have already been notified. I promise I will not make a habit of this.

Also all three whiskies are from Campbeltown, so the remaining bottles are probably on auction sites already.

First up is a 20 year old Longrow, distilled in 2001. Something happened with a parcel of older Longrow casks. In 2022 alone there were at least 10 single casks that were dumped at strengths between 40.1% and 44.9%abv. Meanwhile, today's whisky was fashioned from a batch of six casks that resulted in a 47.9%abv cask strength, so there were likely some more very low strength, or sub-40%abv, casks in the mix. Were these a bunch of leaky casks or was this a warehouse issue? If you know please share in the comment section below, thanks!

For what it's worth, 47.9%abv is a damned good drinking strength.

Distillery: Springbank

Brand: Longrow
Region: Campbeltown

Age: 20 years (October 2001 - August 2022)

Maturation: six refill bourbon hogsheads
Outturn: 1,488 bottles

Exclusive to: The Springbank Society

Alcohol by Volume: 47.9%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Very Islay on the nose as it starts with seaweed, antiseptic and lemons. Lychee juice, apple juice, apple danish and metal appear next, somewhere around the middle. Hints of farm and dried apricots stay in the background.

A very zingy (technical term) citrus smoke fills the palate. Mild notes of sweet, tart and bitter balance out in background. It improves with time as it picks up a combo of oranges + black walnuts + salty smoke, with bits of dry savory herbs and dried apricots around the edges.

Tangy lemons and smoky residue finish it off, with smaller notes of black walnuts and sweet oranges in the background.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Fans can keep chasing those wine-finished teenage-ish Longrows, while I'd be happy with any 18-21yo refill casks. This batch lands right between Islay and Campbeltown – at the Isle of Gigha? – delivering ocean, medicine and citrus. Nothing seems to have been wrong with any of the casks, though it falls a little short in development and complexity in the palate and finish, keeping it from the 90-point range. I'm left wondering, how many of Longrow casks will make it to 25 years?

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - I dunno
Rating - 88

Hazelburn 21 year old, bottled 2022

Yes, like Longrow, Hazelburn now has an official 21 year old built from a mix of sherry and bourbon casks, with a 3600-bottle outturn. I know the whisky world was more excited about the simultaneously-bottled Springbank 30yo, but how many of those 30s are actually going to be opened and appreciated, let alone shared or split? Meanwhile, the Hazelburn 21 is going for 1/10th of the Springer's price on the secondary market. It's not cheap, but it's considerably cheaper. Cheers to baby Hazelburn getting older!

Distillery: Springbank

Owner: J&A Mitchell
Brand: Hazelburn
Region: Campbeltown
Age: at least 21 years old
Maturation: 70% sherry casks + 30% bourbon casks

Bottled: 22 April 2022
Outturn: 3,600 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 46%
(from a bottle split)

NOTES

Honey, anise, toasted oak spice and orange blossoms appear in the nose first. Darker elements arrive next: earthy molasses, brine, Fee Brothers black walnut bitters (which neither taste nor smell like black walnuts), and a hint of wood smoke. Raw walnuts and more smoke develop with time.

Oranges, molasses, dried cherries and dry nutty Oloroso form the palate's base. Menthol and moderate bitterness fill in the middle. More molasses and raw nut notes appear after 30+ minutes.

It finishes with raw walnuts, orange peel, dried cherries and menthol.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Yep, Hazelburn now makes big kid whisky as the brand enters its third decade. And I hope the 21 becomes a permanent addition to the standard range......if the ownership chooses to go with a standard Hazelburn range. Anyway, the Hazelburn 21 is of a similar high quality as the Longrow 21. The sherry casks lead the way, but the fortified wine was of a dry, lean sort so it meets the spirit well without overwhelming it. I do get the feeling that if they had let these casks sit until they hit 25yo then this would have become too woody. Another bit of good cask management over there on Well Close.

Availability - Secondary market
Pricing - Not cheap
Rating - 88

Hazelburn 20 year old 1998, Single Refill Barrel

Hoping to correct the downward trend of this week's whiskies, I'm pouring my sample of a 20 year old single refill ex-bourbon barrel of Springbank distillery's triple-distilled single malt, Hazelburn. It was bottled exclusively for some folks in Bremen (Germany, not Ohio ☹) by the distillery four years ago. To Thursdays!

Distillery: Springbank

Owner: J&A Mitchell
Brand: Hazelburn
Region: Campbeltown
Age: 20 years (May 1998 - September 2018)
Maturation: Refill Bourbon Barrel
Outturn: 192 bottles
Exclusively for: Hanseatische Weinhandelsgesellschaft (sp?), Bremen
Alcohol by Volume: 55.5%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Lovely nose, a barley bomb loaded with fresh cereal grains, as well as lemons, lemongrass, mint leaf and apricots. After 30 minutes, it gets VERY peachy. Herbs hit the palate first, both savory and bitter. Then lemons + lemongrass + lemon pepper. Maple, tangy smoke, guava and yuzu emerge from the background. Tart > sweet in the finish, all lemons, grapefruit and yuzu.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose: peaches, loquats, guavas, pastry and a whiff of smoldering rope. Meanwhile the palate becomes even more herbal, smoky and austere. It finishes similar to the palate with some additional lime in the background.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Like an older sibling to Monday's great 13yo, this 20 year old is the first outright Hazelburn home run I've had. (Admittedly, I've tried only a baker's dozen.) With just a little bit of oak, heaps of fruits and grains, and a touch of smoke, this Hazelburn is a thrill to nose and a warm pleasure to sip. A cask pulled at the right time. Lucky Bremer Menschen!

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 90

Hazelburn 15 year old 2003, Single Port Cask

The color of these Hazelburns gets darker with each day. It's a single refill port hoggie this time, though judging by the whisky's rosy tint, it wasn't a particularly refill hog. This particular single cask appears to have been bottled specifically for the US of A, selected by Pacific Edge in 2018. So I'm right on time as always.

Distillery: Springbank

Owner: J&A Mitchell
Brand: Hazelburn
Region: Campbeltown
Age: 15 years (April 2003 - November 2018)
Maturation: Refill Port Hogshead
Outturn: 264 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 56.6%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose is not at all what I'd expected. It's kind of odd, in fact. It starts with clay, saline, hazelnuts, plaster and mothballs. Then it picks up toasted almonds, a hint of antiseptic and something between barrel char and graphite. 45 minutes in: blueberry pie. The palate arrives oddly as well, reading like a wonky cheese plate: gorgonzola, brie, raw almonds and a wee blob of berry preserves. It's hot, tart, tannic and slightly smoky. It finishes salty, cheesy and farmy with minor notes of tart berries and peppery sulfur.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or >1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

¯\_(ツ)_/¯ with the nose: brine, mothballs, metal, wood smoke, dark chocolate and gorgonzola. It tastes of wheat, paper, tart berries and dirty hay, while the finishes matches than palate.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Some drinkers would grade this whisky a D or F, with its cheese and sulfur, and I would understand that. I'm not going to tell you this whisky makes any sense, and it's possible I received a weird sample, but I appreciate the way the nose shuffles gears and dimensions. And the palate is quite different than anything else I've had this year. But like yesterday's 13yo Oloroso, today's 15yo Portie crumbles when diluted. Can't say I like where this week's whiskies are headed...

Availability - Sold out?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 81 (neat only; when diluted it sinks deep into the 70s)

Hazelburn 13 year old 2007 Oloroso Cask Matured

Yesterday's Hazelburn was probably frequently mistaken for today's Hazelburn. Same age and vintage (down to the month), and bottled seven months apart. I thought I accidentally sourced the same whisky twice. But no, this 13yo was assembled entirely from oloroso casks, and is a smidgen stronger than Monday's H-burn. How did it fare in a Taste Off?

Distillery: Springbank
Owner: J&A Mitchell
Brand: Hazelburn
Region: Campbeltown
Age: 13 years (June 2007 - 23 Sept 2020)
Maturation: 100% Oloroso casks
Outturn: 9,900 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 50.3%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose doesn't read like a contemporary sherried beast, and the casks smell clean. It's gently nutty, with some toffee, shortbread biscuits and a hint of nectarine. No black raisins nor prunes. With time, it shifts towards toffee, smoke and dried currants. The palate, on the other hand, is a sherry 'splosion. Sultanas, figs and sea salt at first. Then lemons and stones. It picks up a bit of sulfur and black raisins as it sits in the glass. No sulfur in the finish though. In fact it holds onto the sultanas, dried currants and lemon zest.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or ½ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

It noses of raw almonds, dried apricots, sultanas and digestive biscuits. Meanwhile, sulfur starts taking over the palate, allowing small odes of oranges, black raisins and woody bitterness. It finish tart, bitter and raisiny.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Keep water far away from this one as it crumbles once diluted. In fact, drink the whisky fast because it doesn't air out particularly well. My score probably seems generous, but if you catch it early, it's quite good, especially in the nose and finish. But FWIW, I'd quickly take yesterday's 13yo over this 13yo any and every day.

Availability - Sold out
Pricing - ???
Rating - 85 (neat only; when diluted it sinks into the 70s)

Hazelburn 13 year old 2007, Limited Edition 2021

Of the distiller's four brands, J&A Mitchell's triple-distilled single malt continues to receive the least amount of geek lust. That's fine. I'd say, "More for the rest of us," if I could find one damned bottle of Hazelburn anywhere. Anyway, if you spy the official 10 year old, have at it, it's very good.

Methinks menoses peat in nearly every Hazeblurn, as is the case with many "unpeated" malts from peaty distilleries, but that's a feature not a bug; a little extra dash of phenolics never hurt any whisky. I have here at hand five Hazelburns, and I'll review one each day this week. Will I find some peatiness, fruitiness, triple-distilled oddities, or all of the above?

Today, it's 2021's 13 year old limited edition that somewhat mirrors Springbank's 12yo CSes, with its 75% bourbon cask, 25% sherry cask approach.

Ignore the pic, this was actually the 2021 release

Distillery: Springbank
Owner: J&A Mitchell
Brand: Hazelburn
Region: Campbeltown
Age: 13 years (June 2007 - 12 April 2021)
Maturation: 75% ex-bourbon casks, 25% ex-sherry casks
Outturn: 6,300 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 48.6%
(sample from a bottle split, via Mr. Ricebowl)

NEAT

A gorgeous amount of barley in the nose, along with a vibrant ocean breeze. A good dose of seaweed meets a patch of moss. Lemon joins confectioner's sugar. A hint of hot tar in the background. The palate is sweet and tart, with loads of barley, peaches and apricots. Moments of butterscotch, salt and farm float by here and there. The finish has a decent length, and holds onto the apricots, salt, barley and lemon.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or >¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose focuses on apples, lemons, apricots and hay. The palate gets sharper, tarter and saltier. The finish is all apples, salt and hay.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I adore this style of whisky, barley-driven yet not half-baked. It's also the apricottiest™ whisky I've ever had. Makes me regret not picking up a bottle last year. I think the low ABV had me slightly worried, or maybe it was my personal life falling apart. Six of one, half dozen of the other. What a great start to this week!

Availability - Sold out?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 89

Bea's Birthday Booze: Ben Nevis 25 year old 1984, cask 98/35/1

With today's review, Ben Nevis ties Bowmore for the distillery with the second-most posts on this site. (Springbank holds the top spot, though it does fall behind the killer Bs if I subtract Longrows and Hazelburns.) Huzzah for Ben Nevis!

This will be the oldest official bottling, and only the second 1980s, Ben Nevis I've ever tried. The previous '80s BN wasn't particularly great, and that distillery had some weird decades before Asahi/Nikka stepped in to fix up the joint in the 1990s. So I have no idea what this 25yo will taste like.

But I am interested in its double maturation, with 13+ years in bourbon casks and 11+ years in one sherry butt. The distillery did this with at least a half dozen 1984s. Ben Nevis tends to have very good sherry casks, so perhaps the management rescued some hoggies that weren't punching their weight.

Time to see if it worked.

Distillery: Ben Nevis
Region: Highlands (Western)
Age: 25 years old (December 1984 - January 2010)
Maturation: Bourbon: Dec 1984 - October 1998; then Sherry: October 1998 - January 2010
Cask #: 98/35/1
Outturn: 628 bottles
Alcohol by Volume: 56.0%
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

It's a chocolatey baking-spicy sherry cask, in the nose at least. Earth, oats, gunpowder caps, cow manure and saline fill in the rest. It's a party, and it's bumpin'. The palate, though, is slightly soapy and dusty. Oranges, limes, chocolate and cherry lollies arrive later. Some salt and fabric in the background. But that soap note never leaves. It does mutate into an OBE type note in the finish, though tangy citrus, bitter chocolate, and a lot of sweetness almost cover it up.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1¼ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose becomes mellower and better integrated. Toffee pudding, pipe tobacco and milk chocolate merge with tangerines and limes. Citrus takes the forefront in the palate, with the soap being pushed into the distance. Talcum powder, herbal bitterness and burlap linger around the edges. A good balance of tart, sweet and gentle smoke stay in the midground. The soap eventually vanishes. That same mix of tart, sweet and smoke stays through the finish.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I'll try to accentuate the positives. Though the cask flexes its muscle fibers, the whisky isn't Oaky. I'm always a sucker for citrus + smoke (see Ardmore, well-aged Longrow, some Caol Ilas, etc.), and the diluted palate delivers that very thing. This cask never reaches the quality of Nevis's Naughty Nineties but it's still pretty darn good, especially once air and water wash the soap away.

Availability - Secondary market?
Pricing - ???
Rating - 87 (diluted)